


Make It Count This Time

by Finfan89



Category: Sing (2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-03 22:54:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20460860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finfan89/pseuds/Finfan89
Summary: Summary:This story is inspired by Andrea_Odown:s ’Keep on Singing’ series. The plot of this story happens a week after the story ’ Tired’.Copyrights:Sing is a 2016 American computer-animated jukebox musical comedy[3 films produced by Illumination Entertainment, and Andrea_ODown for the original characterisation of ’the Keep on Singing’ series.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Andrea_ODown](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andrea_ODown/gifts).

**Making It Count This Time **

**Chapter 1**

A cool breeze blew into the bedroom from the overhanging fan. The sun was casting a bright warm light into the room where a young porcupine couple were waking up from their long (thankfully) nightly slumber by the sound of their radio- alarm clock going off.

Lance rolled to his side with a sleepy groan, slamming the STOP button on the radio before turning to lie back down on his back. He yawned softly and stretched his muscles under the blankets before turning to glance at his wife who seemed to be still dozing despite the blare that had emitted from the alarm.

The two had a habit of waking up at the same time so that she could spend time with him before work, and afterwards, she would clamber back into bed to sleep for a few hours more.

Smiling, Lance leaned over to plant a kiss to his wife’s temple.

'’ Hey, Ash, I have to wake up now. It's 7:00 am, and I have to be at the store before my workday begins at nine,'' he spoke softly into her ear.

Ash murmured something inaudible and buried herself further into the blankets.

’’ Hey, wakey wakey, Ash,’’ Lance said jokingly and stroked his fingers up and down the bridge of his wife’s snout.

He chuckled a little as her snout scrunched up and her nose twitched adorably. She shoved his hand away.

’’ That tickles. Stop it, Lance, ’’ Ash murmured in a sleepy voice.

Lance chuckled again, softly so as not to wake up their little son, Sam, (who was sleeping soundly inside his crib) and stopped antagonising his wife. Rolling to the edge of the bed he then pushed himself up into a sitting position.

His smile faltered, though, when he slowly became aware that he wasn’t feeling all that well after all. There was a slight, dull ache in the pit of his stomach somewhere behind his navel.

Lance winced and gulped in a couple of steadying breaths, managing to push aside the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. He threw his feet over the side of the bed and lowered himself down onto the floor more carefully than he normally would have done.

He then turned to head to the bathroom to freshen up for the day of work at the Music Store, when a sudden nauseous feeling in his gut made him pause in his tracks. But only for a moment, as he soon found himself dashing to the bathroom due to nausea increasing instead of ebbing away.

Lance locked the door behind him and quickly crouched in front of the toilet seat. He could feel a belch forming in his diaphragm, and it wasn’t long till several queasy, wet burps lunged out, leaving his throat burning and his mouth tasting of acid. The vile tasting saliva in his mouth made the male cough and spit it out into the toilet bowl.

’’ Ugh,’’ Lance thought when he still felt the irritation in his diaphragm, and soon found himself hiccuping a few times.

He was left panting for breath as he leaned over the bowl. He hoped nothing else would happen, and for a moment it seemed like he would be safe to stand up again. But then he could feel his stomach turning entirely.

’’ Oh no,’’ Lance rasped out. He quickly braced himself against the sides of the toilet bowl as he started heaving out the entirety of his stomach contents until his nausea finally passed after another minute. He was left slumped over the bowl, shuddering and panting for breathe for the second time.

Knock, knock, knock

'' Lance?! Lance are you okay?’’

Lance lifted his head as he heard his wife's voice outside the bathroom door. No doubt, Ash had heard him belching, retching and regurgitating ( how embarrassing) and the disgusting sounds would have been enough to chase away anyone’s lingering drowsiness.

'' Yeah, I'm cool, Ash!'' Lance called out, grimacing at his sore throat and abdominal muscles as he pushed himself to his feet, flushed the toilet and moved a tad shakily to the sink to wash his hands. He stumbled a bit, gripping one side of the sink with his other hand and curled his free arm around his sore middle.

For about a minute he stayed standing there, leaned against the sink, wondering what had been the ultimate cause to his nausea and stomachache in the first place. There was a couple of options that came to mind. 

’’ Maybe it was that...,’’ Lance thought, frowning, but another insistent knock on the door distracted his thinking. 

’’ Lance, please open the door for me. ’’ 

Lance bit back a sigh as he moved to unlock the bathroom door before swiftly turning back to the sink. He removed his arm from around his waist before his wife wouldn’t notice the moment of weakness he had allowed himself to show. He then turned on the faucet, again, and soaked his face in cool water. As he was fumbling for the facewash on the side of the sink, Lance’s ears pricked up at the sound of his wife’s footsteps padding against the floor of the bathroom as she moved. He smiled when he felt the weight of her hand lowered onto his shoulder as he was still bent over the sink, rubbing the soap into his fur.

Ash waited until he was finished washing the solution off before asking: '' You sure you're cool?''

Lance looked up at the bathroom mirror and saw his wife's worry reflecting from the said glass.

'' Yeah, babe, I’m cool,'' he answered, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.

’’ Yeah, right your cool,’’ Ash said, sounding disbelieving. There was a frown to her face.’’ I can tell your downplaying how you're really feeling. Come on, out with it.’’

Lance rolled his eyes up to the ceiling for a moment and breathed out a sigh. ’’ It's a bit of nausea and a small stomachache, love. Probably the two pieces of leftover pizza from last Wednesday that I took to work yesterday.’’

’’ Ewww, like what the heck, Lance?! That pizza was like so old! I thought I asked you to throw it away that day you took it to work.’’ Ash exclaimed with a now disgusted look on her face.

’’ Well, at least it didn’t end go to waste then, eh, Ash?!’’

The disgusted expression deepened on her face before she dropped it and moved closer to give him a hug. ’’ At least brush your teeth before you kiss me, or hug Sam, will ya?!’’ Ash said.’’ You sure you should go to work today?’’

’’ Yeah, babe, I’ll be fine. I don’t feel that sick.’’ Lance answered. At least he hoped he wouldn’t have to throw up again today.

’’ You call throwing up in the bathroom not feeling sick?’’ Ash quipped, raising an eyebrow at his answer.

Lance shrugged. ’’ I’m pretty sure it ain’t the flu or stomach flu, Ash, so at least I won’t be passing it on to anyone.’’

’’ But if you keep throwing up you won’t be fine. You already look a bit pale. ’ Ash grumbled out, shaking her head slightly.’’ And you have that solo gig tonight, too.’’

’’ I’ll come home and take it easy once my shift at the store ends and stay until my gig. Alright, love?’’ Lance replied offhandedly, with another shrug.

Ash uttered a sigh, still looking concerned as she hugged him again. ’’ Honestly, I think you should stay home today, Lance. But if you're sure you’ll be fine… just promise me that if you start feeling worse, you will talk to the restaurant manager about pulling off the gig to come home, okay?’’

Lance hugged her to his chest, savouring the feel of Ash’s warmth against his bare chest and her enticing scent as she rested her cheek against his fur and skin.

’’ We’ll see how I feel later today, but even if I do feel slightly ill, I bet I shall be able to pull off work and the gig just fine,'' Lance said softly.

Ash hugged him a bit tighter, and he had to stifle a wince. Okay, that had hurt his stomach, but at this particular moment, he could have cared less. Especially when he felt Ash’s snout nuzzle his bare chest. She never failed to cheer him up and make him forget the troubles of the day.

**End of Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2

Making It Count This Time

Chapter 2

’’ We’ll see how I feel later today, but I bet I shall be able to pull off work and the gig just fine, even if I do feel slightly ill, ’’ Lance thought irritatedly as he sat on top a black shipping crate waiting for Jukka to finish his first DJ shift of the night.’’ Famous last words, Lance. Famous last damn words.’’

It had been hours ago, that he had assured Ash that he would be fine doing his gig that evening. But here he was, sweating, and brushing beads of sweat from his forehead.   
He was feeling more miserable than he had that morning. He must have been running a low- grade fever because he was cold and hot at the same time. He was shivering with goosebumps in his arms. His quarter sleeved shirt was uncomfortably damp with his sweat.

’’ Ugh, to think I managed to go through the day at the Music Store with little problem. I only needed to dash inside the staff restroom twice in the early hours of my workday,’’ Lance muttered out loud as he tried to will away his discomfort by pulling his knees up to his chest and staring straight ahead at a dark corner of the backstage.

His mind shifted back to three hours past. 

As promised, he’d headed home to rest at the end of his shift at the store and had found Ash setting up plates of soup for the two of them. He’d been rather surprised overseeing the large pot of vegetable soup sitting on the table and Ash had promptly told him that Rosita had dropped by the apartment earlier that day.

’’ I’ll give a flying guess that Ash had asked Rosita to cook up a meal for the pair of us, that wouldn’t irritate my stomach and digestive system too much,’’ Lance thought, shaking his head slightly before resting his cheek on his palm.  
He shifted his elbow to rest on top his knee as his thoughts shifted to the day he had arrived to said female pig’s Birthday party. Rosita’s questioning months ago (or should he have called it an interrogation) on her own birthday, was still quite fresh in his mind. 

It had aggravated him to pieces, though he had certainly tried not to let it show. And yes, he certainly knew he had contributed to the sow’s interrogation and scorn with his own past actions of indiscretion. But still, the questioning hadn’t raised her too high on his friendship list back then.

A mammal could own his own private opinions about an annoyance, now could he?! And it wasn’t like he hadn’t noticed her reservations towards him had lifted over the past several months. So had his regards for her.

’’Gotta hand it to her, Rosita has amazing cooking skills,’’ Lance spoke out loud with a quiet laugh.’’ Now if only it could have stayed in my stomach.’’

Indeed, for even after having slept for awhile following the early dinner Lance had woken up with the same lingering, bothersome stomachache.   
He’d been defiant in handling the pain, but inwardly he’d cursed up a storm as he’d forced himself to sit up in bed. It really hadn’t been an easy chore to hide the winces of discomfort from Ash as he’d bent over to rummage in his closet for his ’gig’ clothing. And eventually, he had begun to feel nervous and cornered by her constant, albeit subtle, fretting and had decided to leave the house more than an hour early to set up his electric guitar and amp in advance for the gig at the restaurant.

But during the last forty minutes before his gig was to begin, he had begun to ardently wish he’d had had the brains to inform the restaurant manager, a male lion named Leonard, that he wasn’t feeling like himself that evening. And that he needed to cancel everything so that he could go home and sleep.  
The dull ache in his gut had intensified, and he had thrown up once during the early minutes of ’Jukka the hedgehog’s’ DJ performance. Now he could only hope his voice hadn’t been too much affected by him having been sick inside the ’Staff Restrooms’. It wasn’t too long to long a wait for his turn to step on stage, after all.

Lance brushed away more beads of sweat and swallowed uneasily. Even now, there was a lingering nausea present.

’’ I really shouldn’t have eaten those pieces of leftover pizza for lunch yesterday,’’ he sighed out loud.’’ But what can I do? My amplifier and guitar are already tuned and in plain view of the crowd. It's too damn late to reschedule now!’’

Lance hissed in discomfort at the pain gnawing at his navel-area. He swallowed, again, and leaned his back more firmly against the wall behind him.’’ I’m so stupid,’’ he grunted out between clenched teeth, struggling with the want to bury his face into his pulled up knees.

A familiar tune blasted out of the speakers on stage...

Lance’s ears perked up.’’ Okay, just… try and get through the gig without throwing up again,’’ he pep-talked himself.’’ Jukka is almost finished with his first shift and I’m to walk on stage just moments from now.’’

And as if to prove his thoughts correct, the last notes echoing from the stage gradually faded away and were soon followed by cries and claps of appreciation from the audience on the dance-floor.

With a small grin to his lips, Lance listened to the sounds of the audience showing their appreciation for Jukka’s performance. ’’To think, the hedgehog is only eighteen years old and is already doing a professional performance. He really is one of the better, aspiring members of the Music Industry,’’ he chuckled out loud.

The older male had had the privilege of having Jukka at hand for the background music during the past couple of recent gigs. Jukka was a quiet, thoughtful hedgehog who liked having moments to himself before his performance, but he had a great sense of humour. He did like socializing, but it had been during the time the two of them had been setting up their instruments.

Lance had really enjoyed having the guy around, but sadly, the European hedgehog was only staying in Catalonia for a short time before flying back to his home country in Finland.

After a moment of listening in, Lance straightened his back and pushed himself from the wall. He then shifted to throw his legs over the side of the shipping crate. The second his feet hit the floor, he had to bite back a gasp and pinch his eyes closed. ’’ Okay, seriously... I should have listened to Ash,’’ Lance thought as he grabbed his sleeveless leather jacket from on top the shipping crate.   
He slipped it on over his unevenly cut, quarter sleeved black shirt as he walked towards the curtains separating the backstage from the view of the mammals on the dance-floor, waiting until the restaurant manager had finished introducing him to the audience, and to call him out to the stage...

’’ …, Lance Bennett!’’

Lance stepped out of the shadows of the backstage curtain, acknowledging Jukka with a friendly smirk and quick fist pump before resolutely making his way over to where his guitar was waiting in front of the amp, propped on its stand.  
He picked up his guitar, looking at the body of it for a short moment. It was the same one he had played with for years, but it no longer looked the same. The once brighter, teal blue colour had turned to a darker shade of blue. 

Lance had decided to add a change to it after breaking things- up with Becky. And his talk with Ash at the front of the Moon Theater building.  
When Ash had watched, and listened, to him play his guitar for the first time since they had started to tentatively date each other again, she had commented the colour reminding her of the same shade of blue as the ’Heart of the Ocean’ diamond in the movie ’Titanic’ (that movie had been something they had watched together ages ago on Valentines Day).  
Then Ash had just had to follow up with the question whether this was one of the reasons he had been looking for a job in the first place.  
He remembered having chuckled nervously at that comment, but yes, it was true. Taking the guitar to a professional to have its new colour without tampering with its original sound had been one of the reasons his bank account had been in danger of striking rock-bottom. Yes, it had made it urgent for him to find a job to keep his apartment. But like the apology to Ash, changing the colour of the guitar had been necessary so that he could move on from the past.

Sighing, Lance slipped the guitar strap over his head and shoulder and then walked over to the microphone to begin the first song of the hour set.   
As he got closer to the edge of the stage he looked around at the waiting audience for a moment and raised an eyebrow slightly when his green eyes spotted a couple of familiar faces in the middle of the crowd.

In more detail, a certain familiar pig-couple who had apparently chosen this restaurant for their date-night.

’’I cannot believe Buster Moon had once told Ash that black makes a mammal look like he or she is going to a funeral,’’ Lance thought with an amused scoff as he took note of the more casual wear that Norman had on that night.

Yes, the older mammal was still wearing a white dress shirt and dark blue tie but had on black jeans and a plain, black leather jacket instead of the usual jackets he wore.

’’ Hah, that’s a good look on him,’’ Lance thought before taking a quick note of the outfit Rosita was wearing.

A lightly shimmering knee-length black gown with a more muted, black jacket over it, as well as the bright red shoes and handbag.

’’ Its all in how the black is used with other colours, Mr Moon,’’ Lance thought as he started strumming on his guitar.’’ I definitely wasn’t expecting to see familiar faces in this crowd. Oh well, just as long as I don’t end up throwing up all over the stage and embarrassing myself.’’

His strumming quickened as he went through the intro, then started singing, and eventually shredding his guitar in selective moments of the first song.  
The fast tempo music did wonders to his adrenaline and it, in turn, had the welcome effect of it almost numbing the pain that had turned from a dull ache to a sharper pain during the past hour. Almost, was indeed the right word, as the vibrations of strumming and shredding his electric guitar radiated throughout his body. In his current state said vibrations weren’t exactly helping his ailing stomach.   
And yet he managed to power his way through three fast tempo songs before switching to a slower tempo one. The first vocal lyrics went down without a hitch. But in the middle of the second verse, the aches intensified without warning. And was it just his imagination, or had the pain relocated lower in his abdomen? Anyhow, the increased pain had the effect of causing Lance’s voice to falter mid-word.

Gritting his teeth slightly over the mishap, Lance played on, inwardly thankful that at this point he had reached the instrumental verse. It gave him a moment to recompose himself from that unfortunate singing moment.

But what followed next, was something he couldn’t recover from. His first verse came out without another falter, but only upon the second one, things quickly went downhill.

The worsened ache turned into an even sharper one so violently, that Lance’s voice audibly cracked mid-word, and he couldn’t help doubling over. 

His guitar gave off an off -tuned wail as his hands numbed up. It felt like someone invisible was jamming a knife in him!

’’ Ow, ow, ow! What the heck?! ’’ Lance yelped out as his head filled with heavy dizziness that he couldn’t shrug off. His world tilted as his knees buckled from underneath him.  
Lance was brought crashing down onto his knees against the wooden stage. But he managed to focus on catching himself with his front paws to stop himself from falling onto his front and crushing his guitar. He uttered a faint moan as he tried to get back up onto his feet to salvage his image as a tough guy. 

But the intense ache was bent on keeping him firmly in place.

’’ Damn it!’’ Lance thought miserably, face scrunching up.  
He should have felt embarrassment over seriously goofing up in the middle of his performance and not being able to get back up onto his own feet, but all he could really focus on then was breathing through the hellish, stabbing feeling in his middle.  
Spots were appearing in his vision and Lance tried to blink them away but stilled at the dizziness it caused. His hearing was becoming muffled and distorted, and he was certain it wasn’t the silicon earplugs tucked into his ears.   
He could still make out the pandemonium of animal voices reacting to what they had seen happen on stage, though.

Startled, confused and… even disappointed voices?

Lance sighed in disappointment at himself, staring down at the wooden stage even as he continued listening to the ongoing voices echoing all around the dance-floor.

’’LANCE!’’

He looked up weakly at the sound of a familiar voice. Through his blurred vision, he could make out Rosita and Norman pushing their way through the crowd as they made they hurried towards the stage.

Leonard, the restaurant manager (who had come out of the other end of the backstage the moment he had seen the young male porcupine fall to his knees), stepped forward to intercept Rosita’s and Norman’s way to the stage.

’’ Its okay, Leonard! Their no trouble. I know... them!’’ Lance managed to call out, wincing from the effort of speaking and at how hoarse his voice had sounded.

Why was the pain refusing to subside even when he was attempting to stay as still as possible?

Leonard glanced concernedly at him over his shoulder, nodded, and eventually allowed the pig-couple to pass.

Rosita gave the male lion a slightly patronizing glance for having hindered her husband and her but didn’t voice her annoyance as she hurried past the taller mammal.

’’ Hey Rosita… Norman,’’ Lance breathed out as the two crouched down on either side of him.   
He wobbled a bit on the spot, and Rosita reached over to steady him by the shoulders. Her green eyes held real concern when he uttered a barely audible, pained whine.

’’ Where do you hurt, Lance?’’ Rosita asked, loudly enough for the male porcupine to hear over the din from the crowd and his own dimmed hearing.

Lance struggled for a moment with the thought of shrugging away Rosita’s steadying hooves but reconsidered when dizziness made his head spin around.  
He jerked a bit, though, when Norman moved to ease the guitar strap over his head and shoulder. His fingers brushed against the strings as his guitar was lifted away, causing a slight, tuneless sound.   
He knew he could trust his wife’s friendship group, but some things of the past were hard to drop.  
He’d had a couple of experiences in not too a distant past where less than likeable animals had attempted and had stoled from him.  
And the story of how he had become acquainted with the band he had been working with from time to time was linked with the said bad experiences.

To be continued...

End Of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: 
> 
> Had a private messaging with Andrea_O_Down about whether Lance was still doing gigs on his own.  
I noticed in the story ' Imagination' that Andrea had mentioned Lance practising at a rehearsal, so it made me wonder whether he was in a band.  
Apparently Andrea had been thinking he would have a band by then, but the plot for how and when it happened hasn't been mentioned in the storyline yet.
> 
> This story is my AU story of the ' Keep on Singing' Series, so this isn't canon on how things changed for Lance. 
> 
> But still, enjoy. ;)

***

Make It Count This Time

Chapter 3

And the story of how he had become acquainted with the band he had been working with from time to time was linked with the said bad experiences.

***

A few days after him getting the job at his favourite Music Store, he was doing one of his solo gigs at the Rock and Roll Cafe, when six distinctively dressed animals stepped into the cafe and joined the rest of the crowd inside.

Of course with them having entered during Lance’s fifth song of the set it wasn’t until the end of it that the young porcupine even noticed the presence of said animals.

One of them was female, and the others were males. 

The female of the group was a tall moose. There was a male porcupine of a slightly larger type than him and Ash (a Cape porcupine, it seemed), a black bear, a fox, a lynx and a rabbit.  
They had all sat down around a bar table with their instruments nearby and were wearing what looked like their band clothing. 

In fact, it was one of the bands that Ash had been a fan of for the past three years. 

They could have come to the bar after rehearsals for all he knew, but their presence in the crowd had initially made Lance a tad uneasy and nervous about performing in front of animals who had formed an established band.  
But as soon as he had started playing his guitar he had forgotten everything else around him. He’d focused on feeling the songs lyrics and the melody that was coming from his instrument. 

And his plan had paid off. He had performed better than he’d done before during a gig. As soon as his hour-long gig had ended, the applause had come from every corner of the cafe.

Lance had had a hard time not showing how joyful he’d actually been for having done things right for once. And that feeling had doubled upon realizing that the expressions on the band-members faces told of enjoyment of his performance, too.

And it had turned out that they had wanted to talk to him after his gig had ended. The six animals had followed him backstage.  
How they had been allowed that Lance had no idea, but it had been a lucky coincidence. For outside the doors leading out of backstage and to the streets, there had been trouble waiting to ambush him.

A gang of three animals had been patiently waiting for his appearance on the street. The second largest of them, a male fox (who had reeked like an animal who hadn’t bathed in weeks) was the one to ambush him first by grabbing him by the shoulders and ramming him violently against the wall of the building. 

Lance squeaked in shock and sudden pain as the breath was instantly knocked out of his lungs. But he managed to keep a hold on the handle of his instrument case as the gang closed in on him. 

When the fox and male prehensile-tailed porcupine (who reeked just as hideously as his fellow goon) started tugging on his case, Lance tightened his grip to the point his paws started to ache. Then he resorted to using his own quills as a weapon by lashing out at the larger mammal with his head. 

’’ AUGHH!’’ the fox immediately yelped in obvious pain, as Lance’s stiffened quills stuck him on the arm and chest. The goon’s grip faltered slightly at the sudden attack, but he didn’t relinquish his grip on the instrument case.

’’ AGH!’’ Lance yelped loudly as the prehensile porcupine immediately retaliated by swinging his own shorter quills at the musician.

Lance found himself with quills stuck to his side. And damn, did it hurt! 

He barely had a moment to recollect himself before the male Kodiak bear joined in on the rough handling by grabbing hold of his guitar case and with ridiculous ease, used one of his huge paws to lift it, Lance and the bear’s own goons up high in the air.

The fox and porcupine chuckled nastily and hopped off, but Lance was in for an unfortunate landing with the ground as the bear dragged him across it.

Lance’s breathe was knocked out of him for the second time and his clothes promptly became soaked and filled with grime by the many deep puddles.

The bear then lifted him up to eye level, laughing as the porcupine uttered a low, pained noise from between clenched teeth as he stared defiantly up into the bear’s black eyes. The bear started shaking him up and down to dislodge his grip, but Lance still refused to let go of the guitar that had been a deeply treasured gift from his grandfather.

Lance wasn’t sure how long he could resist the gang's efforts to take his guitar. Especially if the bear decided to fling him against the ground a second time, He was already hurting so badly and his vision was swimming and spotting up.  
And yet, losing a guitar given to him by someone so special in his life would have been an awful blow to his heart  
His grandfather had been the only person in his family who had ever supported him in his quest to become a musician. The only family member who had really understood who he was and what he wanted to become.  
His parents had never fully supported his ideals and had even believed grandpa had become mad when he had bought the most expensive instrument a nine-year-old kid could have as a beginner.

A huge commotion of growls, snarls and yelps erupted around the young porcupine all of a sudden, and two massive, furry bodies were there attacking the Kodiak-bear holding him up in the air.

Lance yelped in shock as he was suddenly falling from the air with his guitar case still clutched safely in his paws. 

He landed on the ground feet first, but his knees immediately buckled from the strain and pain his body had gone through.  
Lance was trembling, gasping for air as his heart raced in his chest. His quills and fur stood on end as he raised his head and watched in disbelief as the six band members (along with one male gorilla he recognised to be one of the cafe’s four patrons) he had seen out in the bar, taking on the gang of animals together.

Apparently the difference in size with some of the smaller band members didn’t matter if the animals worked together as a team. They were actually driving the gang back! 

The three gang members finally decided that staying wasn’t worth it if they were to attract public attention with the amount of noise they were all making.  
The bear, fox and porcupine scarpered, disappearing around the corner of the street.

But seeing them gone hadn’t fully eased Lance’s mind. His consciousness remained in a defensive mode as he stumbled to his feet and backed against the wall of the opposite building. His eyes were narrowed, his heart still pounding away in his chest as he clutched onto the handle of his guitar- case. 

Lance stared at the group of seven mammals in silence, and they were looking right back at him. 

But their postures showed they weren’t threatening him as they stood there, giving him a wide berth. The larger animals (that included the carnivorous mammals) of the band had even retreated to the back doorway of the cafe.

Lance was very aware that this group had been the reason the gang of stealing animals had been stopped. 

Oh, he knew damn well that he needed to thank them all. 

But he had just gone through the scariest experience of his life! It had left him wary… and in pain.

Lance uttered a sharp yelp and his free hand flew to his side, near where the other porcupine’s quills had dug into his flesh. The ache in his back and abdomen had only increased the pain in his side. 

His knees buckled and hit the ground, again. His vision swam and darkened...

***

Lance didn’t quite know when he had even passed out following the unexpected violent attack on him until he woke up, confused to find himself lying prone in a huge hospital bed with his stomach, side and back wrapped in bandages. 

He started to lift himself up into a sitting position…

Lance grimaced, putting a hand to his injured side. Getting struck against the wall and then the ground had left him aching all over.  
He sighed, bracing his hand against the mattress as he pushed himself all the way up and looked to one side of the room.

He jumped slightly upon seeing that he wasn’t alone in the room. 

Six of the seven animals who had saved him from being robbed were all there, sitting on chairs around the room. The grey-furred, blue-eyed male rabbit was holding the male’s guitar case beside him on the large chair.  
Upon seeing Lance awake, the male rabbit nimbly hopped off his chair and made his way to the bed where the porcupine was looking from one mammal to the other with tired eyes.

’’ Thank you all, for everything,’’ Lance said in a raspy voice as the rabbit handed him back his guitar case.’’ And I apologise for the rude way I was reacting after those gang members ran off.’’

The mammals in the room shrugged, but they didn’t seem to be particularly upset at him. 

’’ You had cause for it,’’ the black bear said from where he sat. He followed it with a rueful chuckle.

’’ Speak of the truth, buddy,’’ the tall, female moose chuckled at her bandmate. ’’ I do believe one would expect such a reaction from an animal who had just been almost robbed.’’  
She looked at Lance with sympathetic, warm chocolate brown eyes.

The other members of the band nodded affirmatively, but Lance couldn’t shake off the embarrassment at having acted so defensively.

’’ Still, I apologise, ’’ he said again with a small, hesitant smile to his lips. His voice had come out quiet and still raspy.  
Lance cleared his throat as he shifted the guitar case so that it was resting beside him on the bed.  
’’ You all followed me out the back door of the cafe,’’ he then spoke up a little hesitantly.’’ Why, umm… did you guys follow me?’’

The band members shared a grin amongst each other, which had Lance raise an eyebrow in confusion.

’’ Well you see,’’ the blue-eyed rabbit said with a kind smirk to his face as he turned to the porcupine watching their interaction,’’ We came to the Rock and Roll Cafe after rehearsals for some time off from ’work’ and to just talk as friends. But then we got landed with something that caught our eyes...’’

’’ And ears,’’ the caped porcupine chuckled out.

The porcupine, lynx and fox immediately mimed rabbit ears before stifling laughter as the ’buck’ dished out glares in their direction.

’’ Will you guys give me a break on the ear jokes?! It's not like my eyes are just knot-holes,’’ the ’buck’ said in a biting tone.  
The female moose and male bear looked away, biting their lips as they too had a hard time not laughing at the perturbed expression on their friend’s face.  
The rabbit noticed and gave the pair an annoyed glance. 

’’ Speak of the truth! You just proved a rabbit’s eyes aren’t just knotholes,’’ the fox howled out before breaking out into all-out laughter with the caped porcupine and the lynx.

’’ And may I ask what it was at the cafe that was more interesting than talking to one’s friends?’’ Lance asked, a smile tickling at his lips as the three friends continued laughing in friendly mirth.

’’ Your singing and playing the guitar,’’ the rabbit said blatantly, smirking at the almost embarrassed expression that immediately flooded Lance’s face.

’’My music, really?’’ Lance asked a bit hesitantly, looking thoughtfully down at his guitar case.

The fiasco of him not making it to Mr Moon’s show all those months ago, and his words: ’’ Loud and horrible’’ had finally done what the silent reactions to his performances hadn’t managed to do. He had begun to question if he really had what was needed to be a musician.  
He had been jealous of Ash’s talents even before the Theater audition, but the aftermath of the audition had only amplified his jealousy.  
Yes, he had been doing pretty well recently in both work and his social life, but there had still been the question whether he had all it took to become a true Musician. The question: ’’ Will someone see talent in me? Had still remained unanswered.  
Lance had even steeled himself to the idea of doing minor gigs at cafes and nightclubs until the time of his retirement.

Therefore, the whole idea of these band members seeing talent in him had taken him off guard, and he didn’t know whether to feel proud of himself or just flustered at having become the centre of their attention at the cafe.

The rabbit, bear, moose, porcupine, lynx and fox all looked at him with expressions of ’ we're not kidding’, before the lynx asked: ’’ So, what’s the story behind the guitar you refused to let those goons get a hold of?’’

Lance smiled sheepishly, looking down at his instrument.

Ash knew the story of his grandfather having given him this particular instrument, but there hadn’t been many animals that he had felt comfortable telling said story. 

But for once, he felt no need to hide his reasons for why the guitar sitting beside him on the bed was so important to him or the reason why he loved music so much, and what was driving him to become a better musician in the first place.  
For himself, which his grandfather had stressed should be the most important reason of all, and to the guy himself who had been the sole rock of his life in his journey to becoming a Rockstar. 

The only person of his family who had ever understood and supported his dreams.

’’ Well, this guitar became mine when I was nine years old,’’ Lance started to say in a subdued tone, but with a smile of fond remembrance.

***

The band members ended up sticking around for the several hours it took for the doctors to release Lance from the hospital.

He had gotten off lucky, though. The injuries he’d received from the violent attack were been rather minor and he was walking out of the hospital with descriptions for pain medication.  
Although Lance himself didn’t feel all that lucky. Not with all the aches and pains from the bruising to his back, stomach and side where the other porcupine’s quills had dug deep into his skin.

The six other animals accompanied him on a taxi to his apartment where Lance ended up literally stumbling inside after unlocking the door. Exhaustion had kicked in hard.  
Before closing the door, he thanked the animals again. He had been genuinely thankful for their help and their unexpected company at the hospital. 

It had made the hours before his release far less dull than it otherwise would have been. He had gotten the chance to know more about them through introductions and their stories about their childhood families. The talks had also included their hopes and dreams for the future, the story of how these animals had become the band they now were, and their motivations for becoming musicians. And to top things off, what were all their likes and dislikes.

Lance was taken by surprise, though, when Jude Hopps, (the grey-furred bunny who was the leader of the band) stepped a little closer to hand him a business card with the band’s logo and a phone number.

’’ It's the phone number to our manager. Give him a call in a week or two’s time after you have recovered a bit and no longer feel in such rough shape.’’

A stunned expression flooded Lance’s face and stayed stuck to him throughout the handshake, and then the handshakes from all the other band members.  
It had still stayed firmly in place as he’d stood by his apartment doorway with the business card clutched in his paw, watching them all pile back into the taxi, and said vehicle drive off. 

Finally, he sagged against the doorway for a moment in exhaustion before pulling himself together and closing the front door to the outside world. He then hobbled towards his bathroom where he quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face before trudging into his bedroom where he practically collapsed onto the bed on his uninjured side.

It hadn’t taken Lance long to fall asleep that evening.

The next day at work ended up being absolute hell to his beaten-up body but in his typical fashion, he’d ignored his own discomfort and had pushed through the workday by taking his medication at description times.  
Until the moment he had gotten home. Sure, while he had not allowed his clients or boss to see his suffering during his shift, once he was home he almost immediately curled up on his sofa in an exhausted heap for several hours before finally managing to pull himself up to put dinner in the microwave. 

The next day had been just as bad, if not worse, for him. 

Lance had an early dinner meeting with Ash after work, and so he had to rein in his emotions for several hours longer than the day before.  
By the time he had limped back to his apartment, he was a trembling mess. He had immediately headed straight to his bedroom where he’d collapsed onto his bed.  
He fell asleep soon after and didn’t wake up again till the next day to the sound of the alarm on his phone.

Lance never did explain to Ash the whole story of how he had met his friendship group (and later band members), as he had not wanted her to worry for him. Especially, as it seemed that after the first initial attack the gang of bear, fox and prehensile-tailed porcupine seemed to have given up on trying to steal from him again. He hadn’t seen a glimpse of them for the months between him getting married to Ash and the months between the pregnancy and little Sam’s birth. 

And he’d hoped he wouldn’t have to see even a glimpse of the gang.

***

’’ Until they reappeared yesterday, ’’ Lance thought, groaning when he felt like someone invisible was twisting the knife in his stomach deeper into his gut.

***

For just yesterday Lance had been on a solo gig at the Rock and Roll cafe…

***

’’ Ash was right when she said it was overkill for me to go on this gig after yesterday’s job. And adding in all the hours I worked at the Music store this week.’’ Lance thought, remembering back to the words Ash had muttered in her moment of fretting over him.  
Just as he was getting ready to head out the door of their apartment.

***

And had received his payment from the cafe’s manager before he’d headed out the door.

Despite not having had to deal with the gang since the first violent run-in, Lance had been wary about leaving any place when alone.  
So, as always, he’d glanced around the alleyway before almost running down the stairs to the lighted streets.

But apparently his wariness hadn’t been enough this time.

At the end of the street where the street lights didn’t quite penetrate the darkness, the Kodiak-bear and his fellow goons had stood, waiting for his appearance.

And once Lance was within hands reach, the bear suddenly appeared right in front of him, making the young porcupine stop dead in his tracks, his green eyes widening in shock at seeing the massive bear again.

Pamm…

The goon’s fist was driven into the smaller mammal’s stomach, the knuckles digging deep into Lance’s right side and lower abdomen. 

A pained, breathless squeak was heard as the small mammal was sent flying onto his back, his guitar case clattering to the ground as he lost his grip in the moment his back violently hit the solid concrete.

Breathless from the punch, Lance coughed in air. He couldn’t pick himself up from the ground and could only watch helplessly as the sneering fox and porcupine (both smelling as vile as the young porcupine remembered) went through all his pockets.

But without sparing his guitar case one glance!

Why, when the last time they had ambushed him they had been fighting to get a hold of it? 

But Lance was glad for it all the same, as he watched the three mammals scarper off down the street.

Without the other half of the gig’s payment! His first run-in with these goons had left its mark, and Lance had learned to take precautions when it came to entering the streets with a pocketful of money.  
Especially when it wasn’t just about his own wellbeing. It was providing for his family that was the strongest on his mind.  
The other half of his day’s payment was safely enclosed inside a napkin and hidden underneath the sole of his foot.

Lance sat up with effort, still panting in air and heart thumping in his chest. He sat there for a long moment before finally struggling to his feet with a whine of discomfort. His stomach and side ached from the blow, and it took him a moment of leaning against the light post before he could finally start moving his feet forward towards home. 

But the long way home! 

If those goons were still anywhere around the area, watching him, he wasn’t about to lead them straight to his apartment so that they could catch a glimpse of Ash and little Sam. He wouldn’t let these animals threaten his wife and baby boy.

Well, Ash hadn’t been happy at all when he’d, at last, opened the door to their home much later than he’d initially told her. His gig at the cafe had lasted till closing time and she had expected him home much earlier than he’d shown up on the doorstep.

Lance hadn’t been about to explain the whole reason why he’d been so late.  
Only that there had been a change in schedule with his bandmates and that they had needed his input that evening.

Which of course was a heavy lie to both Ash and his friends. 

Lance was very much aware that he would have a heated conversation with his band members, as well as his wife if he was caught in a lie.  
But he stood there as calmly as possible, listening to Ash’s angry tirade about not calling her about the change in schedule. When he’d finally been let off, Lance had immediately made his way to the bathroom for a warm shower. There was still a lingering ache in his stomach and side, and he found himself biting his lower lip the entire time he stood under the water. But the warm water did help ease the pain.  
He finished drying himself as quickly as possible before beginning to brush his teeth for bed. 

Lance could hear Ash moving around in the bedroom, talking softly to little Sam. The male could picture her eventually singing their porcupete to sleep while gently holding him close so that Sam could feel her heart-beat. 

It was after he had washed away the toothpaste that he heard Ash’s voice rising into a song. He opened the door slightly and peered out. 

It was just as his mental image had suggested would happen. 

Lance brushed away the sudden wetness in his eyes as he leaned on the doorway, waiting for little Sam to be lulled into sleep. He so wanted to clamber up into Ash’s and his shared bed, curl up beside his wife and let her presence ease him into sleep so that he could forget about the nightmarish end to his gig.

But he knew how easily Sam could just suddenly wakeup with even the smallest of noises. He needed to be patient with the boy.

***

’’ I hoped the ache would be gone by morning, but it wasn’t, and I threw up almost immediately after waking up. But now I feel like someone’s stabbing me in the gut,’’ Lance thought as he sucked in a sharp breath.  
He wobbled again, hunching so far forward that his forehead sagged against Rosita’s shoulder. 

The female pig steadied him again when she saw and felt the porcupine’s weight pressing against her.

’’ Lance, please focus. Where are you hurting?’’

Rosita’s voice sounded more insistent as she repeated her earlier question.

Lance sighed shakily against the sow’s shoulder before slowly pulling away and lifted his head to meet her concerned green eyes.

To Be Continued...

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for not having published in a while. I’ve been very busy lately.  
Oh, and if any of you want to read the already published work in this story, again, I’ve added bits of new writing on Chapters 1-3. :)

***

Make It Count This Time

Chapter 4

’’ Lance, please focus. Where are you hurting?’’ 

Rosita’s voice sounded more insistent as she repeated her earlier question.

Lance sighed shakily against the sow’s shoulder before slowly pulling away and lifted his head to meet her concerned green eyes.  
He blinked his eyes, gasping quietly upon realizing how far he’d spaced out as he’d been looking to where Norman was carefully setting down his guitar on the floor of the wooden stage.  
’’ My stomach… hurts like hell,’’ Lance breathed out, dropping his tough-guy image in favour of curling his arm around his middle in the absence of his instrument which he’d held close in the moments of his collapse as if it would have somehow eased his pain.

But no, it hadn’t done a thing to ease his physical suffering.

’’ Your stomach hurts, Lance?!’’ Rosita repeated, turning to share a look with her husband. 

Lance followed the pig’s line of sight and could see the male pig’s forehead immediately grease. Even with the agony gnawing relentlessly at him, he could still pick up on their tensed demeanour.

He nodded. ’’Yeah, what… what of it?’’ Lance breathed out. 

’’ Just how bad is the pain?’’ Rosita asked in her worried tone.

’’ Like… someone invisible has stuck a knife in my guts,’’ Lance answered.’’ And it's not... easing up one bit. Do you know something... I don’t?’’

’’ I may have an idea, but I need to...’’

’’ GET BACK! GET BACK RIGHT NOW!’’

The sudden almost roaring command from Leonard the restaurant manager made both pig and porcupine flinch.

Lance looked over at the crowd. 

It seemed that the wall of animals had gotten a bit too close to the stage for the manager’s liking.

Rosita frowned over at the crowd, her posture tensing up. She obviously had no want for a restaurant riot.  
But she visibly relaxed when Leonard walked forward to stand in front of her and the young musician sitting on his knees on the floor. 

The large male lion seemed to have decided that shielding the pair of them from the eyes of the crowd was the best option at the moment.

Lance’s ears twitched when he made out another set of footsteps approaching from his right. He shifted his eyes to the source to find Jukka looking down at him with concern in his eyes. 

The hedgehog crouched down to be eye-level with the older male who gave him a half-hearted grin of acknowledgement before another wave of hot, stabbing agony wiped it clean away.

Lance yipped sharply and sagged forward until his forehead was touching against Rosita’s shoulder, again. But then the familiar sensation of having something vile rise up his oesophagus made him quickly retreat from his position.  
Lance lurched to his left, a hand to his mouth to muffle a queasy belch that brought up a bit of acid tasting saliva. He hiccuped into his hand, evading the other’s eyes by looking steadfastly at the floor. 

It wasn’t over, and he knew it. He still felt that unwanted irritation in his diaphragm. 

’’ This is so damn embarrassing,’’ Lance inwardly groaned when he felt someone rub his shoulder.  
He burped, again, bringing up more acid tasting saliva.  
’’ I really need a bathroom, now, or I will be making a mess on the floor in front of everyone here,’’ Lance thought uneasily. There was already an uncomfortable (and painful) build-up of pressure in his gut. 

Lance braced his palm on the floor as he started to force himself to stand up. The agony spiked up at the movement and he uttered a low groan and very nearly toppled over. 

Rosita’s hooves were suddenly there to steady him, and…

The porcupine looked at her with a mixture of confusion, question, panic, distress and upset that she was keeping him firmly in place.  
Why was she stopping him from trying to stand up? 

’’ Rosita…, ’’ he began to say but fell silent as a sickness bag was shoved in front of his snout. 

Lance blinked, staring down at the object in surprise for a moment. But then a retch crept up his throat and he hurriedly leaned over it to cough out the vile tasting saliva. The taste had him retch, again, and again until he was heaving out his stomach contents for the fifth time that day.  
There wasn’t much left in his stomach. Every heave brought up only bile, burning his throat and triggering agony to spike up anew.  
’’ Ow, ow, ow!’’ Lance miserably thought.’’ OWW!’’

It took several more, painful minutes for the queasiness to die down. And even afterwards Lance felt like he might go for another round at any time.  
He was utterly drained of energy by the time Rosita moved the sickness bag away and tide it shut. Where she had gotten it from, Lance didn’t really wanna know, but it had saved him from making a reeking mess on the stage floor. 

Lance’s ears pricked up as he heard a topic of conversation breaking up between the lion, hedgehog, sow and hog.  
He frowned as he tried to listen in. But his hearing was hazy and the intense ache in his stomach was making it difficult for him to focus on the conversation between the four other mammals.

But he certainly did notice when one of them tried to ease him down into a laying position on his back. It caught him off guard and caused his pain to flare up excruciatingly. He physically protested against the pair of hooves, an unwanted whine slipping past his lips before he could clamp down on his lip to muffle it. ,  
Voices could be heard discussing something, and then a pair of paws joined the hooves in coaxing him to lie down on the floor. 

’’ S- stop! I- I don’t want to be on my back,’’ he protested, wincing at the audible tremble in his voice.

But the others wouldn’t listen, and Lance couldn’t find the strength to protest against the combined forces of Jukka and Norman.  
He swallowed back another whine and curled his left paw into a tight fist by his side. A gentle squeeze on his shoulder made him look up into Rosita’s concerned green eyes.  
The young porcupine found himself feeling self-conscious under the motherly concern in her expression.

Lance averted his eyes, but looked back up at her when he heard her say: ’’ Lance, I’m sorry we had to force you to lie down when you wouldn’t cooperate, but I need to check if this really is what I think it is.’’

’’ Like what… exactly?’’ Lance muttered hoarsely.

Rosita gave him another sympathetic look as he swallowed uneasily and his left paw clenched and unclenched by his side.  
The sow then gently pried Lance’s arm away from his middle and unzipped his leather jacket. She lifted his shirt enough to expose his furred stomach before lightly touching a hoof against it, just below his ribs.

Lance jerked, grunting as she pressed down a little firmer.

’’ How badly does it hurt when I press here?’’ Rosita asked  
.  
’’ A… a little,’’ Lance answered truthfully.

Rosita held his eyes for a moment before turning her eyes back to the area that, when touched, had caused the smaller animal pain.

Lance jerked again as she started to comb his fur back to expose the skin underneath.

’’ Oh my… what happened to you? You have bruising here,’’ Rosita gasped out, switching her eyes back to Lance. 

’’ A Kodiak bear happened,’’ Lance rasped out. He couldn’t really tell anything but the truth. Not with how she was looking at him with the firm ’ tell me the truth’ look.

’’ Were you ATTACKED?’’ Rosita exclaimed rather loudly.

A deafening silence immediately befell the dance floor and elected looks of shock and disbelief from Norman, Jukka and Leonard (who had spun around to face the ailing porcupine).

Lance sighed, nodding in answer.

’’ You were attacked by a Kodiak bear?! When did it happen?’’ Leonard asked in a stern voice, but his eyes were softened with concern.

’’ I- it happened yesterday… a- after my gig at the Rock and Roll Cafe,’’ Lance stuttered, swallowing thickly as Rosita’s hoof felt over his upper abdomen again.  
It did hurt, but the brunt of the agony had definitely shifted into his lower right abdomen. He wondered why.

Lance moaned lowly as Rosita’s hoof moved to put slight pressure over his bellybutton. And again, when her hoof pressed down on his lower abdomen. 

’’Your bruising is deeper here,’’ Rosita murmured as she brushed aside the porcupine's fur to better see the damage underneath.’’ And your skin feels warm to the touch.’’  
She lifted a hoof to Lance’s forehead when she noticed him begin to shiver with goosebumps appearing on his skin.’’ You have a fever.’’

’’ I’m cold,’’ Lance murmured. 

’’ Its the fever, Lance,’’ Rosita said, stroking his forehead.’’ Listen, I still need to check one place, and then I’m done. Okay?’’

’’ Sure, whatever,’’ Lance murmured and quickly braced himself to feel more pain during Rosita’s examination.

He felt her hoof slide to the location of his lower right side…

Lance immediately stiffened.

Yes, that was definitely where the brunt of his suffering was radiating from! Even the light touch had stars spark up behind his eyelids, and he was suddenly very sure he would absolutely abhor what would happen next. 

But he honestly hadn’t accounted for the level of excruciating agony he’d feel when the sow pressed down. And neither the immediate spike of it as she let go…

’’AAARRRGGGHHH!’’ Lance howled out and would have jerked into a curled up position on his side if it weren’t for the sudden restraining hands landing on each side of his shoulders, keeping him in the position on his back.  
It didn’t stop him from fighting against them, anyway. Fighting with his heart racing, his mind hazed, his vision blurring and ears ringing from his own hoarse, agonised yell that seemed to echo on and on…

’’ Let him go, Jukka, Norman! Just LET him GO!’’ 

Lance felt the hold on his shoulders loosen and fall away at Leonard’s distinctive, tense voice, but by then he was frozen in place, panting frantically for breath.

’’ Lance?! Lance, you need to slow down your breathing.’’

A hoof reached out for his shoulder, but his brain was in such haze he didn’t register the act of comfort the animal had been possibly attempting to give him.  
Lance blindly lashed out at the animal, but his wrists and arms were grabbed in a tight hold by hooves and paws.

’’ Whoa, it's okay! Its okay, its ME, ROSITA!’’ 

The shocked, raised voice snapped Lance into the realization that his fur and quills stood on end and that his claws were drawn out in a defensive manner. And was that him growling at the animal crouched beside him?  
The growl in the back of his throat immediately disappeared upon him finally registering his own actions.’’ Oh man, I didn’t mean to. I’m… I’m... sorry, Rosita.’’ Lance stammered out, eyes widening as horror coursed through him. 

Rosita stared right back at him, her poise and expression painfully unsure and hesitant as she hovered in front of him. 

’’ How in hell… ? Why did I start acting like a wild animal whose instincts had been to escape the mammals holding me immobile? Did I lash out at Rosita? Did I hurt her? I did growl at her,’’ Lance thought as tears of humiliation, agony and most prominently, tears of shame and guilt pricked at the corners of his eyes.

A stab of burning pain ripped through his side, and Lance was unable to muffle a hoarse cry as he curled in on himself with his back facing the animals crowded around him and the still present crowd standing on the dance floor. 

He could still hear the crowd, though.

Their loud voices were filled with question, confusion and concern. Like earlier.

Lance tried to blink away his forming tears, but they just kept on reappearing. Finally, the porcupine uttered a pitiable moan, hugged an arm tighter around his middle and hid his face in the sleeve of his shirt. His fur and quills still stood on end, but out of nervousness and shame rather than the flash of unwarranted anger he had projected at the kindly mother pig.

’’D-damn you, Lance,’’ he inwardly cursed at himself.

He had known Rosita to not have held him in too high esteem in the past.  
And from what Ash had told him during one of their private conversations, the older mammal had been blatantly against Ash and him getting back together as a couple.  
Therefore, if her regards towards him had risen at all during the recent months they had gotten to know one another, there was a change this latest show of aggression had ruined all the progress.

Not that he truly cared! 

He was certain he had treated his girlfriend, now wife, with the kind of respect and love that she deserved. He had been loving and providing for their tiny porcupete.  
And he had done it all for Ash and Sam! He had strived to build a working, loving, happy family for all three of them.

He had no one to prove his worthiness except for his family!

He SHOULDN’T care!

So why was he still feeling so utterly defeated and saddened by the thought of all those of the Moon Theater, who had heard about the worst of his character from Ash, regarding him in a less favourable light?

A paw threaded through the bush of quills on Lance’s back. His trembling eased up a bit when he felt the comforting strokes against his upper- back.

’’ Do you know what’s wrong with him, ma'am?’’ 

’’ Jukka?!’’ Lance thought hazily. 

’’ Looks like appendicitis, but if that black bear had struck Lance with enough force, it could potentially be something even more life-threatening, like internal bleeding.’’

’’ What?!’’ Lance gasped out, the sow’s words breaking through his hazed brain. He lifted his head up to meet Rosita’s eyes just as she turned his attention to him.

’’ Hey, its gonna be okay, Lance. Leonard’s called the ambulance to the restaurant. It should be here at any time now, ’’ she said in a reassuring voice.

’’Sure,’’ Lance growled out, voice rising slightly in sudden ire at himself. He had already been feeling scared and absolutely wretched over his actions towards Rosita, earlier, when all she had wanted to do was help him. 

And now he had another reason to be scared! 

Honestly scared over the possibility of leaving Ash to deal with his funeral because he’d failed to get checked over for serious internal injuries at the hospital yesterday.  
Oh, the irony of him not having wanted to make Ash worry over his health. 

’’ Just try to relax, okay?! You're going to get help soon,’’ Norman chimed in reassuringly, noticing the panic in the porcupine’s green eyes. 

Lance snapped his attention to him as the hog moved into the young male’s line of vision to give his shoulder a light squeeze. 

Oh, that did it! 

Why should Rosita and Norman work on keeping him calm and reassured when his show of unwarranted aggression, earlier, had happened because of injuries that he’d... 

’’ DON’T, Norman. Just don’t, okay!? I- I should have thought of hauling my ass to the hospital yesterday instead of walking home,’’ Lance cried out, shrugging away from the hog’s reassuring touch. ’’ I should have gone there today instead of being the idiot going off to work!’’

Why were they, anyway, after what he’d done to Rosita? Were the sow and hog decided on hiding their disdain towards him until the ambulance had arrived and taken him out of their sights?

’’ Or am I simply too drunk with pain that I’m imagining things that aren’t real?’’ Lance thought, frowning as his quills quivered and stiffened in tune with his emotions. 

’’QUILL ALERT! QUILL ALERT!’’

That shout was a common, running joke. But it was an affectionate joke amongst the fans of the ’Rocking Porcupine’. His wife, Ash.

It was also used amongst the staff, within the four walls of the Moon Theater.  
All mainly because of Ash’s tendency to send quills flying in all directions during her performances on stage whenever she got deep into her music jams.  
It was different with all porcupines, but Ash’s quills had always been a looser cannon than any other porcupine Lance had ever come in acquaintance with. Or his, for that matter.

But it wasn’t like he hated that phenomenon about Ash. It made her unique to his eyes.

Nevertheless, it was a known biological fact in the animal world that a male porcupine’s quills were naturally longer, and a fraction thicker than a female porcupine’s. And so getting hit by said quills would have been a helluva painful experience for any unfortunate animal. (1)

’’ Oh man, at any other time I would have found that particular quip shouted out to be mildly amusing in a way as one can hardly walk a street without running across an animal who has seen one of Ash’s performances. But right now I just hope that this crowd has the good sense to stay out of quill launching distance. I’ve already caused enough trouble,’’ Lance thought, shutting his eyes tight when his thoughts returned to the moment he had lashed out at Rosita. 

Then as if to mock his thoughts, some of his quills did launch just then; straight towards where the crowd was no doubt standing around.

Lance shuddered at having felt his quills come loose from his back and shamefully hid his face in his sleeve again, hoping to not hear any pained yells and cries from the crowd. But much to his relief he heard no such sounds.  
He opened his eyes a fraction and weakly raised his head to rest his chin on his arm. Instead of feeling like he was freezing, he now felt way too warm. Sweat trickled down his face, chest and back. His clothing was sticking to his dampened fur and the burning ache in his side was making him feel all that much worse.  
Lance whined pitiably but quickly muffled it by biting hard on his arm and sleeve.

Someone gave his shoulder a squeeze and, what felt like a paw, was gently rubbing his shoulder-blade in soothing motions.

’’ Yeah when is that ambulance coming anyway?’’ Jukka bit out in a sharp tone. But there was detectable worry underneath the annoyance. 

’’ Their coming. Calm down, kid,’’ Norman broke in, using a stern voice on the younger male.’’ You aren’t helping with becoming agitated.’’

’’ Yes, the paramedics are coming. I’ve been in contact with the emergency service since I called in,’’ Leonard broke in as he joined the group, standing at the edge of the circle.’’ Man, you look rough, Lance.’’

Lance huffed at the red-maned lion. The hint of irritation seeped through into his demeanour, again, as he peeked up at Leonard with darkened, dulled eyes. ’’ Yeah, cause I was an idiot for not getting myself checked out immediately after getting robbed by that gang, Leonard.’’ he rasped out without filter, but instantly regretted the ’cheek’ the second it left his tongue. 

Leonard didn’t seem put out by it, though. Brushing off the youngster’s momentary lapse in manners, the lion crouched down and reached over to give Lance’s paw an encouraging squeeze.  
’’ It won’t be too long till they get here, boy. ’’ he said and rubbed his thumb over the smaller animals knuckles when he felt Lance’s grip tighten around his offered paw.

’’ Yeah, okay. Sorry about the ’cheek’, Leonard.’’ Lance mumbled, giving the restaurant manager a sheepish, apologetic look. 

The lion simply smiled back.’’ I should be the one saying sorry for not minding my words better, boy.’’ he answered, patting him lightly on the shoulder. 

Lance only nodded. He was honestly grateful for the older mammals presence even though he felt he didn’t deserve their support. 

Leonard suddenly pried his paw (gently) from his grip, pushed himself up onto his hind-legs, and turned in the direction of the crowd on the dance-floor.

’’GET BACK! 

Lance jerked at the unexpectedness of Leonard’s shout and gasped sharply when the movement jostled his aching middle.  
He could feel a hoof reach up to stroke the fur on his forehead and the base of his head-quills.  
Someone sighed over him, and Lance could hear Rosita’s familiar voice mumbling something unintelligible in an annoyed tone.

’’LET the paramedics pass through!’’ Leonard growled out, again. He, again, could clearly be heard over the din of voices of other animals inside the building.

Lance’s ears pricked up at the word ’paramedics’. He raised his head again, motions shaky and sluggish.  
He made brief, apologetic eye contact with Leonard, Jukka, Norman and finally Rosita. He had gotten upset with them for giving him undeserved comfort and concern, but at the same time, they definitely hadn't deserved his moodiness.

’’You’ll get to the hospital very soon. Just hang in there,’’ Rosita said soothingly as she stroked a hoof over Lance’s forehead and quills, again.

Lance nodded, slowly. He felt so weak all of a sudden, barely able to move his limbs anymore. Behind his eyelids, unconsciousness was beginning to creep upon him.  
He vaguely wondered if he looked as bad as he felt. Well, that must have been the case with how intently the other mammals were now staring down at him. 

Rosita’s somewhat urgent, but gentle shakes to his shoulder and her voice prompting him to keep his eyes open were proving unsuccessful in keeping the porcupine awake and aware.

The urgent voices of the other’s joined Rosita’s in coaxing him to keep his eyes open, but he just didn’t have the energy to fight off the darkness closing in on him.

To Be Continued…

End of Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Nevertheless, it was a known biological fact in the animal world that a male porcupine’s quills were naturally longer, and thicker than a female porcupine’s. And so getting hit by said quills would have been a helluva painful experience for any unfortunate animal. (1)
> 
> Probably not much of a difference, but for the sake of the story, let's say there is.


End file.
